High Winds Cause More Damage In City

While there was no water damage from last week’s storms, the winds were higher at times than during Hurricane Isabel.

According to the National Weather Service, there were wind gusts at Washington Reagan National Airport of more than 50 miles per hour on Wednesday and Thursday of last week.

“We had 28 calls for trees down in the roadways,” said Amy Bertsch, a spokesperson for the Alexandria Police Department. “Trees fell on parked cars and into the street. Van Dorn Street was closed for two or three hours on Thursday afternoon because a tree fell and took some power lines down.”

According to Dominion Virginia Power, there were 6,000 customers in Alexandria without power at the height of the storm. The areas that were the most affected were Mt. Vernon Ave., Russell Road, S. Glebe Road, St. Asaph Street and Linconia. Duncan Library had to close early on Wednesday because there was no power.

“We didn’t have power either for a while,” said a George Washington Middle School student. “Our gym teacher had to hold a flashlight in the locker room so that we could get dressed.”

MOST CUSTOMERS had electrical power back by Thursday afternoon but some residential customers did not have electricity until Saturday morning.

According to information that was provided by the office of Code Enforcement, two homes were damaged by falling trees. The most seriously damaged home was located in the Parkfairfax community. Here, a large tree fell directly onto the roof of one unit, causing significant structural damage.